The score does not do the lads justice, after making 2 mistakes at the start of the game they played very well and the score should have been a lot closer, the D played physical, sealing the crease and making the Canadians shoot from bad locations and James Hewitt was a wall after the first Quarter making it difficult for them to put in Mike Connor who has been amazing so far!. England battled and contested every ride and ground ball and made it difficult for them. Shooting was a downside for England with many man ups and if we could have converted 50% of them the score would have been closer (im not saying we could have won), but we did draw a lot of penalties and thats down to the hustle from the lads and them taking it to Canada, the boys are growing in confidence.

Dan Condren had another great performance again with 2 goals, Lewis Curtis had an amazing low to high shot that rocketed into the top corner and then Jake Weddell then added a 4th quarter goal when the he dodged from X beating his D man top side and turning the corner faked low and finished in the near side top corner. Josh Hurry provided his Sheffield mates with some ammo for next year missing a sitter on the crease created by Jake Weddell (haha I love you really Josh) .

The score didnt concern any of the fans as it was Englands best performance and the score really didnt reflect the play!

We should be proud of the whole team as they are in the 3rd/4th play off!

To see the emotion after the Iroquois vs USA game of the Iroquois players I dont know how up for the game they will be come Sunday the players sat with their head in their hands crying, the Iroquois have been the fans favourite here and for no wonder they made history and is very hard to repeat sometimes, it will be an honour for the Parents, fans and players to play the creators in one last game for the Bronze Medal!

I have fallen behind on the games over the last couple of days due to work and PC problems. I am looking forward to seeing the Canada game despite the result and I know the guys will have taken a great shot at the medal.

The Facebook posting show how devasted the Iroquois team are at losing to the USA, though they should be proud of what they have achieved. I think they will be playing for pride more than the Bronze so with both teams up for it, should be a cracker.

The USA team seem to have needed the kick up the backside that Canada and the IM gave them in order to find their real form, and in the games I have seen each one has seen an increase in skill, determination and tactical ability. It will not be the same team in the Final that lost to Canada and I think that the balance may just have swung towards the USA. I would be interested to hear what those in Finland think.

League restructure I told you so 10/3/2011(looking good on this one)Prem division to two leagues will result in the prem division failing and being combined with Nemla 22/3/2012the proposed restructure to 8 teams in each prem league will only last a couple of years until it has to be restructured again due to teams dropping out. 13/12/2012

Exactly, which is what WACS10 did, express an opinion that just looking at the score does not tell the whole story of any game, especially if we consider the reality of the situation in regard to the ranking differential between both teams.

WACS10 made a considered and interesting contribution, Morons was a half cocked thoughtless jibe, and Fourteens freespeech contribution adds nothing to the issue.

Moaning Git wrote:Exactly, which is what WACS10 did, express an opinion that just looking at the score does not tell the whole story of any game, especially if we consider the reality of the situation in regard to the ranking differential between both teams.

WACS10 made a considered and interesting contribution, Morons was a half cocked thoughtless jibe, and Fourteens freespeech contribution adds nothing to the issue.

Both teams (I think) had only played at 1pm once, it was a very rainy day and both team seemed flat to be honest the game was played at an easy pace and England didnt capitilise on some chances at the start of the game for whatever reason with penalties for both sides - the lads looked drained mentally at the end, it was a long week and as has already been said they are the best team in Europe and finished 4th in the world , they got their win against he Aussie's (which was a major focus) in one of the games of the tournament!, their semi final game against Canada was one of their best performances!

This is one of the first England U19 teams for many years NOT to include any US based players, a first time coaching staff that did not benefit from any past staffs experience and should be happy that they have equalled past standings in this tournament! they have a lot to proud of! The boys where committed to fundraising, practices and other commitments as well as working, college work, gym and conditioning, yes some people would have played things differently in some games but the coaches & staff where committed all the way through and met their goals!

We are the best in Europe and 4th in the World, however if the ELA would like to take the next step they need to look at more funding (to cut down on fundraising time), more knowledge sharing and better competition for the lads before future tournaments.

Lets get some lads through the Sr set up now or even the NCAA!

Congrats to all the lads and staff! thank you for giving the players a great experience and opportunity!

The only reason there was no mention of the game was because the main event was on straight after the England game, then the Closing event, drinks and then a 4am wakeup for a 6:15 flight!

Wacs10 wrote:This is one of the first England U19 teams for many years NOT to include any US based players, a first time coaching staff that did not benefit from any past staffs experience and should be happy that they have equalled past standings in this tournament!

Lets get some lads through the Sr set up now or even the NCAA!

Congrats to all the lads and staff! thank you for giving the players a great experience and opportunity!

Exactly what he said.

BIG congratulations to Coach Gartside, all of his staf and, of course, especially the players.

The Coach's policy of sticking to an entirely England-based squad has paid dividends and shown the value of the team over perceived individual talent. This will hopefully convince future coaches that they don't need mercenary 'talents' to achieve their goals and, more importantly, will have given more of our home-based players a taste of tournament lacrosse at the highest level.

I'd also agree with Scott that we should be trying to get as many of our young players out into the NCAA as possible. This is where players make major strides in their development as, at the moment, we don't have the framework or coaching ability to offer them the same here. I know it's not quite as simple as that and there is big money involved; but the more the better in my mind. The more players that have been coached by the best, the more that are likely to pass that on and develop coaching in this country - long term vision.

I hope all the lads had as good a time as the numerous Facebook / Twitter messages suggest. I look forward to seeing them all play in the leagues again next year.

Jedi Lax #9CEng MIMechE_______________

My views are not necessarily those of Clarendon Road Primary School Pop Lacrosse Team